The Bright Forever

1. Multiple people from the story are to blame for the death of Katie. It all depends on how you look at it. Raymond R, and Henry Dees are most at blame. yes, Raymond killed her, but if Mr. Dees would have just taken Katie out of the truck when he had the chance she would still be alive.

"'You shouldn't be here with me. You shouldn't have anything to do with me at all. you ought to get out of this truck. Take this little doll baby with you. Take her back home. Go on. Take her back to her mama and daddy.'...'I can't,' i told Raymond R. 'What in the world would i tell them?'"

If he would have just faced his fear of giving Katie back to her parents .He just couldn't imagine her running to them, hugging them as she cried and held on to her parent. He loved her too much, he couldn't bare the thought. Katie would have been safe.

But at the same time, If her brother Gilley wouldn't have announced that she still didn't take back her library books her father wouldn't have yelled at her and she wouldn't have left that night on her bike to take her books back. And maybe if her mom stopped her to get shoes she would still be here. But they didn't know she would be taken, they thought they were doing the right thing by making her be responsible.

I blame Henry Dees and Raymond R. Raymond actually killed her, and Henry Dees could have stopped it all. He could have prevented her from being murdered, her parents grief, all the pain they caused everyone and all the pain it caused Henry.



2. Lee Martins style of writing in the Bright Forever was enjoyable but it was also confusing. The way he made each chapter different characters point of view was very interesting. It gave different perspectives and let you get close to the character and understand them in a different way. It was sometimes confusing, but they way it was confusing made you want to read more to understand. The very first chapter is a great example. Its titled Raymond R. And all the is said is "I'm NOT saying i didn't do it. I don't know." This was confusing in a way they made me want to read more, to see what Raymond did.

The way martin wrote also made me extremely uncomfortable. Every time he talked about Mr. Dees and his feeling towards Katie, it made me feel weird. Towards the end of the book when Mr. Dees and Raymond R. are together in the truck with Katie and Mr. Dees puts his hand on her knee.

"He let go if her foot, and he reached across her and took my hand. He laid it in her knee, made me tough her like that. 'A doll baby, ' he said. 'Just what you've always wanted, right, Teach?"

The was uncomfortable and awkward for me. I didn't like hearing that and imagining this little girl in the horrible situation. It broke my heart. It got his point across, and made me understand what needed to be understood about the kind of people they were.